Nightmare.

That was what Eren thought when he stirred awake. But when he opened his eyes, he knew that it wasn't a nightmare; last night was really happened.

He felt a soft material on the palm of his hand, and when he was finally wide awake after realising that it was a blond fur that he caressed, he spoke in a raspy voice, "Armin?"

Armin, who still in his wolf form, could only growl as a response.

"Wait, Armin you son of a— you knocked me out!"

"Eren, stop! We've been taking turn on running while we shifted in our wolf form because one of us needs to hold you to prevent you from falling. So, please… For once, just be still," Mikasa said. Her voice sound drained from exhaustion.

"We've been running the whole time I'm out? Just how long exactly since I've been knocked out?"

"Hell if I know. More than five hours, that's for sure. The sun has rising for a quite long time now," Mikasa shrugged.

As they kept on running, Eren could feel that Armin's breath started getting heavier. He looked at Mikasa with concerned look, "I think we need to stop. Armin seems tired."

Mikasa stared at Armin's wolf form closely and then nodded in understanding. She then patted the soft, blonde fur, signalling him to stopped running, "Armin, let's switch with me. You've been running for a few hours."

"We're still going to keep on running? Are we still being chased?" Eren asked. Armin stopped running and bowed for a bit to let him and Mikasa get down with ease.

"I don't think so, but we can never be so sure. Better run as far as possible," Mikasa answered. She opened a backpack that Armin brought with him, and threw a pair of t-shirt and jeans behind the tree. Armin, who was already back into his human form, with all his naked glory hiding behind a tree, caught the clothes with ease and gave Mikasa a small wave as thanks.

"Why don't we get help? You know, from the other wolf pack that spreading all over this world just like a country."

Armin, now with clothes on, came out from behind the tree and walked toward Eren slowly, "First, my dear Eren, our Alpha is not a very sociable Alpha wolf. Yes, our pack is well-known for having the most members who loves to live in peace around the gold mining in our territory as a living source."

He shrugged and continued, "But that's that. You can't deny that our pack only depends on each other. We never, ever, ever, have something like alliance between any other packs, because Wild Titan Pack has been living independently since hundred years ago."

Once he finished explaining, Armin finally asked, "So, who wants to help us when we don't even want to connected with another pack all this time?"

"Welp, you have a point there, Ar…" Eren raised both of his arms in defeat.

"Second, the wolf packs are spreading around the world, yes, but it's not like a country, Eren. We're only a tiny little part of this world, not that big, you know? Plus, would you bother traveling around the world looking for help when you're not even sure if the other packs wanted to help us?" Mikasa continued in a good synchronization with Armin's dialogue to replied Eren.

"Geez, fine. No need to make me feel like such a fool, I'm just trying to help, you know? I still care with our pack even though I am not sure if there's any survivor beside us. I also don't want us end up being rogues!" Eren said his final statement with a frown on his face.

"Yeah, well, any ideas? Because all I can think about is running as far as possible," Mikasa said while leaning on the big ass tree behind her.

"We could run, find a place far from any werewolves' territory, and just trying to blend in with human. Like it or not, if you're not going as rogues, then just go pretending to live as a human."

Armin's baby blue eyes went wide as he slowly nodded his head, "That, actually is better. I mean, both are such a hideous idea, but, I prefer living as human if that means safety for us."

"Right? After all, you're all that I have left, and I prefer to keep us safe!" Eren beamed.

"I like the way you're thinking, Eren. That thought never crossed my mind," Armin praised him.

"You guys are just exhausted, that's why you can't think straight. Me, I had my beauty sleep earlier," Eren chuckled, but later, it turned into a bitter laugh, "I can still remember the horror from last night though. It will forever be my nightmare."

Mikasa gave Eren a small smile, "Aren't we all, Eren?" She then stretched out and yawned for a little, "So, better start running, then? Let's find a place to settle down."

Looking at Mikasa and then at Armin, Eren let out a soft sigh as his fingers played with the end of his shirt with a dejected look, "I am sorry. If only I could shift into my wolf form, it will be easier for the three of us."

Mikasa walked towards Eren and gave him pat on the shoulder, "Eren, it's fine. You'll have your first shift soon, don't worry. You probably just a late shifter," She flashed him another smile.

Eren nodded eagerly and put his hand on a fist, "I swear I'll become better at fighting. I'll find out whom our attackers are, what pack are they from, after that, I'll kill them all! I fucking swear it! I have a strong point in hand-to-hand combat, and once I am able to shift into my wolf form, I will be stronger, much better, and—"

Eren's speech was being cut off by a loud cracking sound that made the trio immediately looked around with cautions. Then, three persons landed from above them, along with two wolves, that were circling them.

One of them, a young man with a curly, ash-blonde hair and an undercut, walked cautiously towards them and stopped only a few meters away in front of Eren. He then narrowed his eyes to Eren with suspicion, "Well, well, looks who we've got here. Smol little rogues in our territory."

Eren stepped forward for a bit, trying to explain, "No, wait. We're not rogues, we're just—"

The young man clicked his tongue, cutting Eren off from speaking. But unfortunately, he bit his tongue while doing so. After a few seconds of recovery, he then spoke with sarcasm, "Yeah, and I am a fucking rabbit!"

This time, Armin was the one that trying to explain, "No, wait. Listen—"

Once again, the young man cut the conversation, and this time, he didn't bit his tongue. He stepped forward and grabbed Eren's forearm, dragging him with a bit of force.

The young man half shouted to his other two comrades, "We'll take them to Alpha Levi. If they show any sign of threats, kill them immediately."

Mikasa was about to put on a fight when she felt herself being dragged away by a tall, young man with blond hair, whilst some random looking dude tried to drag Armin, as the two wolves were following them quietly but no less dangerous.

The trio were struggling while being tugged into somewhere. This probably irritated the curly ash-blond haired young man. He yanked Eren's wrist and growled into his ears, "Behave, or you won't get to live long enough to explain your trespassing incident to our Alpha."

"Don't talk to him like that!" Mikasa growled.

"Don't speak on my behalf!" Eren protested.

"Would you guys please just shut up?" This time, Armin spoke up. Immediately, Eren and Mikasa snapped their mouth shut. The curly ash-blond haired young man smirked at the sight, pleased at the sudden quietness.

After fifteen minutes' walk had passed in silence, they finally arrived at the huge house, or more like a fucking castle in the middle of the forest, surrounded by small houses around it.

Eren bet that the castle was the main house; it was the pack house where the Alpha and the other important members live. He whistled at the sight, Wild Titan Pack's main house was just an average, old, brick house; it was just nothing if being compared to this.

Still, Eren kinda miss the average, old, brick house which probably already being destroyed because of last night's attack.

His thought swiftly interrupted by a tall, dirty-blonde young man who was coming out from the castle. He nodded to the trio, and then turned to the curly ash-blond haired man, "Thank you, Oluo. You can now go back patrolling the territory."

Next, he turned to the blond man and the random looking dude, "Eld and Gunther, you too can go with Oluo, thank you."

The three of them saluted in understanding, before finally disappear, back to the forest as to guard the territory.

He then turned to the trio and offered his hand to Eren, who happened to stood right in front of him, "I am Farlan, Farlan Church. The Beta of Shadow Corps Pack—"

"Corpse?!" Eren cut him off, his eyes went wide at the name.

This, made Farlan chuckled in amusement, "Corps, not corpse. I know I am supposed to be cautious, but you three don't seem like a threat, at least not to me. So, wanna come and explain to our Alpha as to why you were trespassing into our territory? Um…"

Abruptly, Eren grabbed Farlan's offering hand and made a handshake motion to it, "I'm Eren Jaeger. This is Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert."

"Ackerman?" Farlan hummed.

Mikasa nodded, "Yeah. Can we talk to your Alpha so we could just leave as soon as possible?" Armin suddenly nudged Mikasa's arm gently. With that, she added, "Uh, please?"

Farlan scoffed, "You think you could just come and go just like that? Even if you're not the threatening-kind-of-rogues, there are some punishments for trespass—"

"Wait, we are not rogues! We tried to tell you people this, why won't you listen?" Armin butted in.

"Okay, well, I am listening to you now. But if you are not rogues, then why are you trespassing? What pack are you from?"

This time, Eren spoke up with a hint of sadness in his voice, "Wild Titan Pack. You probably haven't heard about what happened last night, but—"

All of the sudden, Farlan eyes lit up, "Seriously? There are survivors?" He asked in disbelief. Out of the blue, he pulled something from behind the door and threw it to the two werewolves who were obediently stood still during the conversation this whole time.

Afterwards, the two werewolves shifted back into their human form and put on some clothes that were thrown earlier by Farlan.

Farlan didn't seem bothered as the two naked teenagers went changed in front of them, while Eren turned his head a bit –slightly uncomfortable at the sight—, and Armin leisurely put his hand over Mikasa's eyes as she leaned into the touch.

Once they had done put on some clothes, Farlan pointed at the two-toned haired guy, "Meet Jean Kirschtein—" Next, he pointed at the bald one, "—and Connie Springer."

The two of them simply nodded as Eren gave them a small wave, while Armin and Mikasa eyed them with caution.

"They might look like fools, and act like ones, but believe me when I say they are our top ten fighters. So, if you act recklessly, these two will immediately end you right here, right now," Farlan said with ominous smile.

Mikasa turned to him with disinterested gaze, "You sure do talk a lot."

Farlan laughed quitely, "Well, I have to. Since our Alpha isn't the type of person to talk much. Ah, speaking of the Alpha, let's go see him to let you explain about your trespassing incident."

He then went inside, followed by the trio. But then, Jean stopped them midway, "Shoes off, our Alpha really strict about cleanliness."

With that, the trio started to take off their shoes without missing an exasperated sigh from Mikasa and eyes rolled dramatically from Eren.

As soon as they were inside, Eren couldn't help but gasped and look around with wide eyes. The inside of the castle was really beautiful, like how you imagined the castle from a fairy tale. It sounded girly, but for Eren, that was what it really looked like from his perspective.

While he scanned the room without missing every corner of it, he caught a smell of green tea and probably a little bit of mint. It was such a faint smell, but he kinda like the sweetness of it and the calmness it gave from smelling them.

He felt safe and secure.

He started to sniff the air as the scent was getting a bit stronger once they walked near a huge door.

Ignoring the weird look he got from the teenager whose face looked like a horse that he remembered as Jean, he turned to him, still sniffing, "Is someone baking cakes? I smell something sweet. Maybe you happen to put on scented air refresher or something?"

"Are you high?" Jean scoffed. Eren only sneered at the horse-face.

Farlan opened the door in front of him loudly, making all the people inside the room turned their heads in an instant; a handsome blonde man with bushy eyebrows and a woman with a messy ponytail sitting side by side, and then, a petite red haired girl with a pigtail, who stood beside an attractive man with milky white skin that contrasted his raven hair and mesmerizing steel-blue eyes.

The attractive man was seated in the biggest seat among them, which made Eren assume that he was the Alpha of the pack in just a second.

Well, if that was true, then this pack was lucky for having one good-looking Alpha, that's for sure. Just the way he was eyeing at Eren's direction already made the brunette's knees turned into jelly.

Oh, wow. Maybe he was gay? He didn't know that for sure since he never felt this way toward anyone before.

"What is it, Farlan?" The attractive man finally spoke up, but his mind seemed to concentrate on something else, as if he was searching for something, or someone.

Farlan stepped forward and gave him a small nod, "Alpha Levi, I believe I already mind-link you about the intruder that has trespassed our territory. Also, I hope you are still doing a meeting about the attack at the Wild Titan Pack. Because, well, these intruders are happen to be the survivors from Wild Titan Pack."

"Um, what?" The red haired girl with a pigtail asked in pure confusion.

Farlan was about to explain it again for the girl, he shifted a little from where he stood, revealing Eren completely from behind him.

All of the sudden, the Alpha, Levi, stood up from his seat with a dangerous look on his face, making all eyes turned to Levi, including Eren. However, Levi's gaze only directed to one person, Eren.

'MATE.'

He speed walked towards Farlan's direction, shoving Armin and Mikasa harshly as Jean and Connie stepped back.

'MATE.'

Levi stopped in front of Eren, grabbing both of Eren's shoulder to prevent him from moving. He yanked Eren down for a bit –since he was slightly taller than Levi—, and buried himself in the crook of Eren's neck, inhaling the sweet cinnamon scent coming from the brunette.

'MATE.'

Finally, Levi growled menacingly as he tightened his grip on Eren. He let out one word that directed to Eren, one sacred word from every werewolf toward their soul mate, which lasted for the rest of their life, "MINE!"


Chapter End Notes:

Edit: Beta-ed by Ririlian (twitter ID: ririlian). Thank you for pointing out my grammatical errors! ^^